Indie developer Blingame revealed it had to kill the Xbox Series X|S version of its 2022 game, Haak, owing to a tumultuous porting process.Over the weekend, the studio released a statement detailing how it spent "over 14 months" trying to bring its game to Microsoft's console. That ended up being a "nightmare," mainly owing to "many" alleged bugs in Microsoft's Partner Center.Last year, Baldur's Gate 3's Xbox Series X|S port hit a snag pre-release owing to the S console. Those issues were later resolved, but the two games indicate a potential larger issue with bringing titles to Xbox as a staggered release.Porting games can already be tricky for various reasons. A lack of proper support from console makers cuts multiple ways, especially in …
Rundisc and Focus Entertainment will continue working together. The two companies renewed their business deal, meaning Focus gets publishing rights for the next project from the Chants of Sennaar studio.Per Focus, that project is a "brand-new indie IP" rather than a sequel to the 2023 hit. While sales numbers on the adventure game haven't been disclosed, it received strong reviews, and was one of 2023's best games, according to Game Developer's Holly Green.That the two are teaming up again speaks to how Focus sees Rundisc as a valuable partner to have on hand. Being a smaller studio isn't easy these days, and the relationship between indies and large publishers can be beneficial beyond sales.Chants of Sennaar was published through Focus' Indie Series labe…
In the year since Dead Island 2's launch, the game has amassed "well over" 7 million players.Developer Dambuster Studios revealed the milestone in celebration of the game's first birthday. Similarly, those players have taken out 24 billion zombies across PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X|S, and PC."All of us at Dambuster Studios are humbled and thrilled by the outstanding response of our passionate slayers!" it wrote. "It’s been a truly memorable year for the Dead Island franchise."It's unclear how that translates to sales, but the game was successful almost immediately. It opened to 1 million copies sold in its opening weekend, and 2 million within a month.Likewise, Dambuster didn't highlight a particular system it did well on, …
Global developer conference Gamedev.world plans to launch a new fund to help developers in emergent territories flesh out their pre-production and prototype stage projects.The Global Games Fund will launch later this year and offer up to $50,000 in funding to developers outside the Western world. Fundees will also receive additional support in the form of access to industry-leading mentors and sessions covering all aspects of pre-production and development."Like access to knowledge, funding is not fairly distributed around the world, across languages, and across cultures. Living in the West, speaking English, and making games based on Western culture and mythology gives developers structural advantages in attracting publisher funding and investment," reads an explainer."The …
A new report from the Verge claims Microsoft is working on an AI-powered chatbot for Xbox. This "Virtual Support Agent" (as Xbox puts it) will be an "embodied AI character" that effectively serves as customer support, like chatbots on other websites.It's said the VSA is part of a larger AI push inside of Xbox. Along with the generative AI design tools unveiled last November, Microsoft reportedly wants to incorporate the technology into its art and game testing pipelines, among other areas.Beyond answering questions from Xbox users, the VSA is said to be able to process game refunds from the website. Microsoft's reportedly expanded the test pool, suggesting it'll be available for all Xbox users in the near future.The Verge further claims it's being te…